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Cave monitoring

Guest Editors

Nenad Buzjak, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Aurel Persoiu, Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Christos Pennos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Cave Monitoring: Special Issue

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The integrated monitoring of karst systems (MIKS) model, applied in karst studies in Bulgaria
Petar Stefanov, Dilyana Stefanova, and Peter Nojarov

  • Theoretical-methodological platform ProKARSTerra for karst studies
  • Integrated Monitoring of Karst Systems (MIKS) model
  • MIKS comprises 6 types of monitoring
  • Speleo-MIKS model is used for monitoring in cave systems
  • Many problems in organizing and maintaining MIKS are described in this study

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Designing a Cave Air Monitoring System: Guide and feedback from 15 years of monitoring the Cussac Cave (France)
Nicolas Peyraube, Jessica D. Villanueva, Fabien Naessens, Roland Lastennet, Sylvain Mateo, and Alain Denis

  • Providing a flow chart of question to be answered when creating a monitoring system
  • Providing feedback from 15 years of monitoring in a cave
  • Examples of long time series of CO2 monitoring
  • Example of sort time event influence on cave air

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Microclimatic conditions in Shulgan-Tash Cave (Southern Ural, Russia): Implications for the preservation of Eastern Europe’s largest Paleolithic art collection
Olga Chervyatsova, Rayan Akhmedyanovb, Nailya Saifullina, Ludmila Kuzmina, Mihael Kotov, and Yuri Dublyansky

  • Shulgan-Tash Cave exhibits distinct winter and summer ventilation regimes
  • CO₂ concentrations: atmospheric in Lower Level, elevated in summer in Upper Level
  • Elevated CO₂ levels in the Upper Level result from forest cover and phreatic degassing
  • Key threats to cave art include condensation and fluctuating CO₂ levels in cave air
  • Rapid degassing of infiltrating water leads to calcite deposition over cave paintings

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Pre-calibration of δ18O for paleoclimatic interpretations using stalagmites in Cueva Ensueño, Puerto Rico
Gabriel Enrique López Borobia, Ny Riavo G. Voarintsoa, Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo, and Pablo Antonio Llerandi Román

  • Isotopic fractionation is studied in Cueva Ensueño to pre-calibrate stalagmite δ18O
  • Seasonal isotopic fractionation is found between wet and dry months
  • Hendy test on farmed carbonates suggest kinetic fractionation
  • Drip water isotopes are affected by epikarst storage
  • Prior calcite precipitation increases in the dry season

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Protocol for assessing and managing radon gas exposure risks in caves: A case study of Altaomira and Paleolithic cave art of Northern Spain World Heritage Site
Sergio Sanchez-Moral, Javier Lario, Soledad Cuezva, Juan Carlos Cañaveras, Tamara Martín-Pozas, and Angel Fernández-Cortés

  • Year-long monitoring of radon, temperature, and airflow in nine UNESCO caves, N. Spain
  • Radon poses a major health hazard requiring strict management in tourist caves
  • A protocol to assess radon exposure provides management tools for cave administrators